Matt Damon won his first Oscar at 27 years-old for Best Original Screenplay. If that piece of trivia came as a surprise to you, then it might also surprise you to learn that he went to Harvard. Damon was in a playwriting class at Harvard where the assignment was to write a one act play, but Damon what Damon turned in ended up being a little different. When he turned it in he told his professor that he’d be willing to rewrite it if it was too off-prompt, but his professor told him not to worry about the prompt. He said something to the effect of:

“This is the first act of a three act film, and you have to finish it.”

So Damon brought the screenplay to a childhood friend of his that he thought might be able to help him finish it. With the right connections and all of the other lucky breaks that it takes to get a film made, it ended up being a critical and commercial hit.

Damon was able to prove he was a prolific writer because he was encouraged. If it weren't for that Harvard professor, the careers of Damon and his friend wouldn’t be what they are. I believe would should be fostering this kind of creative education. Recognizing talent and pushing it beyond the classroom.

That “childhood friend” happens to be Ben Affleck, co-writer of Good Will Hunting (1997). And both him and Matt Damon are wicked smaht.